God Doesn’t Want to Hear a Rehearsed Apology by Pastor Jim Buckman
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I pray you and yours are well.
The Prodigal Son is one of Jesus’ most cited parables; all the elements of a great story are there- the core elements (character, setting, conflict, plot, theme) and the classic story arc (exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, resolution) can all be found.
Today I want to draw your attention to one aspect of the story- which is the rehearsed apology the son plans to give to his father.
The son certainly needed to apologize, he was very rude. In that culture, by taking his inheritance before his dad had passed, the son was essentially saying, “You are dead to me”.
We don’t know if the son is truly sorry for insulting his father; we do know the son is hungry; he wants to be fed from his father’s abundance.
You also need to eat. You need to come to the Lord’s table and receive Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins.
Did you notice the father does NOT let the son complete his rehearsed apology? Dad breaks into his son’s little speech and interrupts, not rudely like many are want to do, but with words of grace and mercy.
Come to church, be fed. Leave your rehearsed apology at home, listen for God’s interruption of grace, for you.
Your friend in Christ,
Pastor Jim